Romania, Spain and Egypt are the first three teams to qualify for the main round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, securing their second wins in as many matches.

GROUP F
North Macedonia vs Romania 27:28 (17:12)

For the team which lost their maiden match at Poland 2025, the idea was clear: win against Romania and extend the chances of progression to the main round. Lose and any possibility of progression was reduced to zero.

Therefore, Radoslav Stojanovikj’s side started strong and contained Romania’s attack, as the third top scorer of the competition after the first day, Daniel Stanciuc, was constantly hampered by the aggressive defence which he faced.

Indeed, Stanciuc was again the fulcrum of Romania’s attack, but he turned the ball over four times in the first half and also missed a penalty, mistakes which enabled the other European side in the match to build up a healthy lead, after a strong Romania start.

Radoslav Stojanovikj’s side used two 2:0 unanswered runs and another 3:0 unanswered run to open up a four-goal lead, 10:6, as Romania’s defence failed to really produce some meaningful stops, while their two goalkeepers, Dragoș Podovei and Marian Sîrghie registered a 6% saving efficiency between them.

Romania were down five goals at one point, 8:13, they came back, but their opponents eventually took advantage of the plethora of turnovers made by Adrian Petrea’s side, to open a 17:12 lead at the break.

It looked like Radoslav Stojanovikj’s side was going to really go all the way and secure a win which would keep their hopes alive, but their attacking output was drastically reduced in the second half, when they scored only seven times in the first 20 minutes, turned the ball over seven times and enabled a comeback from Romania.

Stanciuc was once again magical on the ball, with 13 goals and three assists, and Romania missed twice the chance to tie the score with 10 minutes to go, when they had already cut the gap to only one goal, 23:24. And from that moment on, Romania took control of the match.

Despite missing two other chances to take the lead, they finally bounced back with a 6:1 run, that saw Mario Racolța put Romania ahead, 25:24, with Adrian Petrea’s side taking a 27:26 lead with 40 seconds left.

With 20 seconds to go in the match, Paul Grigore scored Romania’s last goal, to put their side two goals up, 28:26, as their opponents failed to match that output, as Romania secured the main round berth, with a 28:27 win.

Player of the Match: Daniel Stanciuc (Romania)

GROUP H
Egypt vs Bahrain 28:19 (14:10)

Egypt and Spain qualified for the main round of the 2025 IHF Men’s Junior World Championship, after the African champions delivered their second win in two days at Poland 2025, 28:19 against Bahrain, setting up a clash against Spain for the first place in the group in two days’ time.

Fresh from a win against Saudi Arabia, Egypt looked to be primed to deliver yet another win against Bahrain and took the lead in the early minutes of the match, yet the Asian side kept cool and stayed close, after Elias Ali scored four goals in the first half.

With 11 turnovers, Bahrain conceded plenty of chances to Egypt, but the African powerhouse, which finished in the top-10 at the IHF Men’s Junior World Championship 14 times in the last 15 editions, could not find their top gear and had a four-goal lead at the break, 14:10, with a 4:1 run to end the first half key in that result.

Another 3:0 run, initiated by centre back Feras Ragab, who had two goals, put Egypt up by the largest margin up until that point in the start of the second half, 18:12, as Bahrain struggled in attack, with their efficiency dropping by 10% over the first six minutes of the second part of the match.

Eventually, Bahrain could not match Egypt’s output and despite the overall attacking efficiency being close (60% for Egypt and 56% for Bahrain), Egypt clinched a 28:19 win, ensuring their main round berth.

Player of the Match: Omar Mohamed (Egypt)